Canals, Consent and Coercion: A Critical Approach to the Politics of Transnational Mega-Projects

Abstract

Ever since Chinese telecommunications magnate, Wang Jing announced in 2013 that construction would be going ahead for an interoceanic canal in Nicaragua, the proposed megaproject has garnered considerable attention and criticism. In order to analyze the political dynamics between the private investor and the nation-state, this paper seeks to move beyond a state-centric approach that has been used to frame this project specifically, as well as other infrastructure projects of a similar nature. By moving away from a conventional state-centric approach, this paper explores both how and why actors govern in the context of environmental politics. In order to do so, this paper adopts a critical political economy approach to assess the politics of global environmental governance.